I bought my second house with Severin in Old Torrance, a nice neighborhood with tree-lined streets and beautiful vintage Craftmans and Spanish bungalows from the 1920s and 30s. But after the pandemic and living in the ‘burbs for two years, I suggested to Severin that we should sell our house during the inflation, cash out, and move elsewhere. He surprisingly agreed, and without hesitation, we put our house on the market in February 2022. We had twenty-three offers and sold the house in one weekend (yes, easily over asking price).
With the extra money, I wanted to reinvest, and buy my mother a single-story family home near a Vietnamese community. So I bought my third home sight unseen in Katy, Texas, closing this past March. I shopped online and there were plenty of houses in my price range, and I picked one that was built in the 1970s because it met my requirements — it had at least three bedrooms, two bathrooms, an open concept kitchen, and a safe, quiet neighborhood, plus walking distance to Ranch 99.
The Katy property is a smaller ranch house with about 2,000 square feet, not including a detached garage, but it was on a 10,000 square foot lot, which was great for our three dogs. Most importantly, the house get lots of natural light.
I relied on our real estate agent to check out the house before I put in my offer. I also hired a good inspector who e-mailed us the report, and we felt comfortable buying based on his knowledge.
A notary came to our house in Torrance for us to sign the paperwork. I offered $10,000 above the asking price because I felt I had to be competitive in such a hot housing market. Since our Tulum villa will not be completed for a while, we will live in this Texas house (we hired movers for an early May move) and live with my mother until then. I love 1970s ranch homes, so I am looking forward to a complete redesign and makeover. I will definitely post photos and Reels of the progress.
And in other big news, Severin’s last day at his corporate job is April 1st (no pun intended). We’ve been working on the Tulum businesses together and formed a proper LLC and setting up operations. Exciting (and adventurous) news all-around! I will post more about settling into Katy, Texas in our next post.
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